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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Last week was not good. Likely my worst in all of these marathon training weeks. It just figures that the winter that I decide to train for a marathon is the winter that I end up getting sick a record amount of times and the winter that I decide to get a new job. Even in a relatively good situation, changing jobs is so anxiety provoking. Unfortunately for me increased anxiety leads to decreased sleep.Monday 3/9Plan says: OPTIONAL Easy 3 milesWhat I do: I was still very tired from last week's 20 miler so I opted out.

Total: 0 miles

Tuesday 3/10Plan says: 1-2 miles warm up, 5 mile tempo run, 1-2 miles cool downWhat I do: I had to make a speedy trip to New Orleans for work so I was in the office for 6 hours and then headed to the airport, arriving in NOLA around 6 PM. It was pouring rain and I was tired.

Total: 0 miles

Wednesday 3/11Plan says: Rest or cross-train

What I do: I set my alarm to get up early and run. I don't know about you, but I have FANTASIES of being alone in a hotel room with a king bed all to myself. That was my reality Tuesday night and you know what? I had quite possibly the worst night of sleep ever. It was also pouring outside so I was in the hotel fitness center on the treadmill where 8:00 pace felt like a dead sprint. BLECK.

Total: 3 miles

Thursday 3/12Plan says: Easy 7-8 miles

What I do: I brought clothes with me to work to get the speedworkout from Tuesday knocked out. It was glorious. 1 mile warm up at 7:30, 5 tempo miles around 6:50-7:00 pace and 1 mile cool down at 7:30 in the sunshine and mud.

Total: 7 miles

Friday 3/13Plan says: Fun WorkoutWhat I do: I always just write off everyday chasing after two kids as my "fun workout" and this week was no exception. I started feeling icky on Friday (lots o' nausea) and thus wanted to save what ever energy I had for Saturday's long run.

Total: 0 miles

Saturday 3/14Plan says: 16 milesWhat I do: Go to urgent care. Yep, overnight felt a lot worse. Full on GI something or another. (No I'm not pregnant - they checked). After napping basically all day (thank you to my mom and husband for kid duty), I went to bed at 7:30 PM and woke up at 6 AM, STILL TIRED.

Sunday 3/15Plan says: RestWhat I do: Rest. I still wasn't feeling great, but better than Saturday.

Week 11 Total Mileage: 10 miles (PATHETIC)Completed 2 of the 4 mandatory workouts.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Overall I am happy with the week even though I missed one workout due to the cold and bad planning. After a beautiful weekend in the 40s, I am hoping the cold is going to make an appearance less and less! I am REALLY EXCITED to have to use the treadmill less during evening runs due to daylight savings time. Things are looking up, people!Monday 3/2Plan says: Easy 4-5 milesWhat I do: I was still in FL and thus ran 5 miles in 80 degrees. It was glorious. No watch so not sure how long it took me.

Total: 5 miles

Tuesday 3/3Plan says: Negative Split 4 miles (2,2)What I do: I wanted to get up early and get a final workout done in FL before we had to head to the airport but it didn't work out because the kids were up and there was packing. By the time we got home, grocery shopped and unpacked, I was pooped. No gym for me.

Total: 0 miles

Wednesday 3/4Plan says: Rest or cross-train

What I do: Tuesday's negative split workout on the treadmill. WOMP WOMP. Do you know how hard it is to go back to a treadmill after running in tanks and shorts outside for a week?!

First 2 miles: 7.8 mph (7:47 pace)
Last 2 miles: 8.3 mph (7:14 pace)

Total: 4 miles

Thursday 3/5Plan says: Easy 5-6 miles

What I do: Nothing. I forgot that the hubs was not going to be home due to an overnight meeting so no childcare = no running at night.

Total: 0 miles

Friday 3/6Plan says: Optional 3 milesWhat I do: Usually I do not work on Fridays which can mean an easy way to make up a workout that I may have missed during the work week. However, due to vacation and the fact that I am leaving, I worked this day and then met a friend for drinks after the kids were in bed. Friend with drinks trumps workout every time in my book.

Total: 0 miles

Saturday 3/7Plan says: 20 milesWhat I do: Curse. Did I mention that I can count the nights that I have slept through the night in the last month on one hand? Friday night was no different. Thank you children. That combined with the 2 beers I drank Friday night and I was needing some super strong coffee Saturday morning. I was not in the mood to run 20 miles.

I still did not have a GPS watch so I planned a route using gmap pedometer. My planned route ended up at 21 miles. All that clicking was driving me bonkers so I guessed at how much to chop off so I would only do 20.

I may not have had a GPS watch but I did have a running watch...somewhere. We got the kids down for naps and I started looking for it and after 30 minutes gave up. The next thing I had to use was my phone, which is enormous. There was no way I could carry that and 2 bottles of water. I decided to leave the stopwatch on my phone running in the house, starting and stopping it as soon as I walked out/in the door. Armed with 3 Gu pouches and 2 bottles of water, I was off!

My route was two big loops so that I could stash water and not have to carry it the entire time. It was a gorgeous day and I was a little hot because I still dressed like it was 20 degrees cooler. The first loop was 11 miles and fairly uneventful save for a few backtracks because I couldn't find where I left the water bottle and soggy feat from running through so many puddles due to melted snow.

On my second lap, I ran into a couple that saw me an hour prior and the lady yelled "HOW LONG ARE YOU RUNNING?! GEEZ!" and I replied, "I'm doing 20 miles today!". It was then that I knew I would finish.

I felt really good. I used gels at approximately 7 miles, 14 miles, 18 miles and finished the two bottles of water (32 oz). I could have used more water but it was fine.

I got back home to stop my phone and the time was 2:31:38 or 7:40 pace! Given that this was likely a little off due to stopping at stop lights, I was happy. I really really tried to start slow to be able to finish strong.

UNFORTUNATELY I really only ran 19.75 miles. I chopped off a bit too much in my mental guessing.

Total: 19.75 mi

The runners world calculator says this workout burned 2,031 calories. THAT IS INSANE!!! Pass the girl scout cookies!!!

Sunday 3/8Plan says: RestWhat I do: Rest. The weather was SO NICE that I attempted going out to get in Thursday's missed workout. I got about 0.1 miles before turning around because my legs were so sore!

I did get to our local running store and have a new gps watch. PHEW! All that gmap pedometering was driving me crazy.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

That song always pops into my head whenever I see "Super Feet". Thank you Rick James.

If you've been reading since last fall, you know that I had a minor foot issue that I went to an orthopedic sports medicine doctor for. At that time, we briefly discussed shoe insoles and her advice was that some people like them, others do not and that it wouldn't hurt to try them.

On my birthday, I finally went to my favorite local running store, PRO (Performance Running Outfitters), to check the Superfeet insoles out. As usual, the customer service was awesome. The associate put some in a shoes for me to try with and without. I could tell a difference but I wasn't entirely sold.

What sold me was the 60 day guarantee. I could try them for 60 days and if I liked them, great; if not, return them to the store for a complete refund.

I was fitted for the Berry version. Interestingly, I would have picked the Green version without help but given my neutral running pattern, the associate was concerned that too much intervention could alter my running pattern too much. He watched me run with Berry and didn't see an over correction so thought that was best.

I am not one to wear my running shoes for anything other than running, but during travel, I always wear my running shoes on the plane because they are usually the bulkiest shoe I own. I don't want them taking up valuable suitcase space! I put the inserts in before leaving for the aiport as I figured I could get some valuable break-in time in.

I ended up running all of my FL workouts (5 runs total) with the inserts in my Saucony Triumphs and they felt great.

The only problem is that I currently am using two pairs of running shoes that are not the same. I cut the insoles to fit my Saucony Triumphs as those are my favorite, although I am still using my Mizunos on the treadmill. I did a short speedworkout last night in my Mizunos on the treadmill and today my right foot hurts. ARGH.

I know.

I should just surrender the Mizunos since I have never liked them anyways.

Have you ever tried insoles in your running shoes? What did you think?

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Last week was an epic one. Last week of brutal February and I spent it in mostly sunny FL! We took the kids on our annual trip to FL to do Disney World and visit my BIL. And shocking, it is somewhat easy to get runs in when:
1) You and your husband are both on vacation from work;
2) It is not only in POSITIVE temperatures, but in the 60-80 degree weather range;
3) You have extra sets of hands to watch your kids.

Needless to say, I had a stellar running week, which I desperately needed.

Monday 2/23Plan says: Easy 4-5 miles with 10 strideoutsWhat I do: Nothing. I worked 8 hours before heading to the aiport to catch our flight. We ended up having a big delay so ended up getting to our hotel around 12:30 AM instead of the 8:30 PM we anticipated.

Tuesday 2/24Plan says: Tempo workout - 1-2 miles warm up, 4 x 1 mi at tempo pace with 0.25 mile recovery in between each, 1-2 miles cool downWhat I do: First run through Old Key West resort at Disney World! They had a running trail that was about 1.5 miles and also linked up with a trail that connected to Saratoga Springs resort. I was happy to have my Garmin along so I could just wander around linking to different paths/trails and not have to do the pre-determined resort loop. I didn't do the exact workout because I didn't copy down the plan right and missed the 0.25 mile recovery so instead of a 4 x 1 mi tempo intervals, I did a 4 mile tempo run, no recoveries.

Unfortunately, I ended up dropping my Garmin in the process of taking my long sleeve shirt off (I had put my watch on over the shirt and had to undo it to take my shirt off) and the screen no longer works! So I guess I will be using some birthday money to replace that! I have no idea what pace or time this run took me since I only brough my Garmin as a watch on vacation.Saturday 2/28Plan says: 13 miles, with a strong 15 minute finishWhat I do: It was pouring out and we had planned on going to Hollywood Studios so I had a "rest" day which really meant another day walking around the park.

Sunday 3/1Plan says: RestWhat I do: Long run. We were now in Celebration, FL which I have run in plenty of times, including training for the Chicago Marathon in 2006. Unfortuantely I had no watch to figure out exact distance or pace/time and using the Gmap Pedometer on an ipad is not optimal. I did what I thought was 13 miles based on my gmap pedometer work, but when I got back home to WI and re-traced my route using Gmap Pedometer on a computer, I ended up with only 12.62 miles. It was done pretty quickly though because we headed off to Epcot after I got back! More walking!

Recent Race Photo

About Me

I am a 36-year old woman living in Wisconsin who loves to run. I work full time in the health care industry and have a husband and two young children. I originally developed this blog to keep myself motivated on a central goal I had after the birth of my second child: Qualify for the 2016 Boston Marathon. After I checked that goal off the list, I used this blog to document my training and preparation for the 2016 Boston Marathon. Now that the marathon is over...I use the blog to continue documenting training and running-related aspects of my life. Thank you for reading! I love comments!